The Monument

The ceremonial unveiling was carried out in front of the covered “monument”. However, although all elements of the opening were very official and consistent – from the invitations issued to the city authorities, introductory speech, musical performance and laying of flowers, to the final applause and a glass of champagne, the unveiled “sculpture” is actually not a sculpture, much less a monument. The wall of the former shower was turned into a monument prop for the purpose of the artistic performance. The act of unveiling reflects the attitude towards monuments in the past twenty years. On the one hand, ideologically inappropriate, often anti-Fascist monuments disappear. On the other hands, those politically appropriate are erected arbitrarily. Two cases from Trogir reflect such an attitude towards monuments. In the first case, an anti-Fascist monument in remembrance of the fallen Partisans was demolished in 1994, after which it was kept for 13 years in the premises of the city utility company, only to be sold to Italy by the owner of a waste trade company in 2007, despite the fact that it is a protected cultural monument. In the second case, the parish office of St Lovro’s Cathedral installed a polyester sculpture of the Ascension of Christ in front of the building without having sought approval beforehand. Although it was a protected cultural heritage, the parish office completely ignored the warnings of the experts that the newly installed sculpture did not belong there. Apart from the reflection on the contemporary attitude towards the monument heritage, the artwork also reveals the discontinuity which gives rise to our ignorance of our heritage. Perhaps it would not be strange if one day a formerly undefined shower wall become a significant monument, provided that we decide to grant it that meaning due to our own ignorance.

“The Monumet” was part of the project It is not future that always comes after.